The Black Australian

 -Chapter 11

Departure

by Sunil Govinnage

I sought and sought. But O her soul

Has not thrown upon my own

One beam! Yes, she is gone...

Thomas Hardy

The next few days moved quickly and Siri returned to work. Rajini complained of boredom. When she failed to convince Siri to get a joint membership at a gym in Claremont, she enroled on her own and spent a good part of her mornings there.

Three weeks later, she rose early on a Sunday morning and dressed conservatively. Surprised, Siri questioned her. Rajini replied that she would be going to a church in the city.

"Why have you become so religious all of a sudden? You're not a regular churchgoer! What's the reason for your sudden change?"

"No, I'm not a regular churchgoer, but Dad called me yesterday and wanted me to meet some of his Tamil friends at church."

"Then why don't we visit them together afterwards?" asked Siri.

"No, it would be more fun to go to mass after such a long time! You're most welcome to join me, if you wish."

"What can I do in the church? I can't say prayers. I was going to make breakfast and you are running away!" Siri complained.

"But I'll come back in an hour. I'll see you soon." Rajini gave him a flying kiss as she left the house.

After noon, Rajini returned to be greeted by a furious Siri. He had planned to take his wife to Fremantle for lunch. When he mentioned this, she said, "I'm tired now. Let's have a snack. I'll cook something tonight."

She excused herself and went straight to bed and woke up around five o'clock.

As she slept Siri tried to write poems in his study.

He heard Rajini approaching him.

"Why all these papers? Have you written a petition against my visit to the church today?" Rajini laughed.

"No, I tried writing poems. But no luck, like everything else in my life!" Siri complained.

"You and your poetry! Anyway, what's the use of poetry?" Rajini replied flippantly.

"Why did you come late from church?" Siri asked, controlling his anger.

"Oh, I had tea with Uncle Siva and Aunty in the city. We nearly called you but I didn't want to disturb you."

"You have already disturbed my tranquil bachelor's life! We are committed to live together," Siri growled.

"Oh, I didn't know that! I'm very sorry, Mr Husband!" Siri caught the sarcastic tone in her voice.

Two months later there was a letter from Siri's mother.

My dearest Putha,

Since the day I got your letter about your marriage, I was living in a hell. Yesterday someone sent an anonymous letter saying that you had got married to a Tamil person! Is that true?

I always wanted to have a grandson to continue your father's name; the name of our 'Paramparawa'. As you know we have bloodlines to those like Ehelepola Adigarama who would have become the king of our country. My hopes are just like the dews in the morning. How can you get married to a Tamil woman? Don't you understand the plight of this country because of that nasty race! How can you even think of living with one, let alone raising your children with a Tamil woman as their mother? If you had sent me some poison I'd have taken it and closed my eyes forever, without hearing all this nonsense.

Yesterday, I had your horoscope read by Devale Kapu Mahattaya. He told me that you will have a very bad time and continue to have Senasuru Apale [1] until the end of next year. We are making arrangements to read Seth Kavi [2] for you and hope it will do some good for you.

Please give us a call as I want to talk to you urgently.

May Triple Gem Bless You.

Your loving mother

Biso Manike Wickramasinghe

Siri was saddened by his mother's words, as he had lied to her about his marriage, and angered by the news of an anonymous letter. He was not sure who had done it, but he had a few suspicions.

A few days lapsed without incident, and Siri did not bother to ring home.

"Siri, there's a call for you. Someone from Sri Lanka! I can't understand him, and he doesn't speak English." Rajini informed him while he was cooking.

Siri rushed to the phone and spoke in Sinhala, "Ah, who is speaking there? Why? What emergency? What? When was 'Amma' admitted to hospital? Which one? Where are you calling from now? Give me the number and I'll call you back."

It was Siri's brother-in-law advising him that his mother had been admitted to Kurunegala General Hospital with a severe chest pain and he was speaking from a relative's place. Siri's mother had requested that he come home urgently as she was in a critical condition. Siri's sister was staying at the hospital with her mother day and night.

Rajini volunteered to stay behind. It was a great relief to him as he knew he could not accompany his wife, a Tamil woman, who could not speak more than two words in Sinhala.

Rajini drove Siri to the airport and dropped him off outside the departure terminal.

"Enjoy your trip!" she said, blowing him a kiss. As he watched her drive away, Siri felt lost in a world of his own.

Why couldn't she wait at least until I got to the passenger's lounge?

The journey from Perth to Colombo was a long one. After nearly nine hours of flying Siri arrived at Katunayake airport. From there, he hired a car and went home to Kurunegala.

To his surprise, the first thing he saw was his mother sweeping the garden.

As he got out of the car, Siri shouted at his mother, "Why did you send a message saying that you were in the hospital?"

"Yes, I was in the hospital and came home only yesterday."

"Don't lie to me!"

"Anay no puthey, boruwak nemei. Budu Hamuduruwo palla!" [4]

"Then why are you doing this work now?"

"What else to do unless I hang myself without seeing all this? I gave birth to two sons. One was drowned when he was twelve, and now you've gotten married to a Tamil woman! Don't you have any other women in this big world to marry? Why did you get married to a Tamil woman who is a member of a cursed people in this country!"

It was seven days of painful arguments with his mother. On the seventh day, he left home, eighteen hours ahead of his scheduled departure. He needed some peace and tranquillity and visited his friend Piyal's who lived near the airport in Negombo. Piyal was a poet and civil servant. As it was the weekend, Siri spent the night at Piyal Liyanaarachchi's's place. When Siri was living in Sri Lanka, Piyal was having an affair with a young Tamil woman who lived near the city. Siri learnt that, as Piyal's parents had objected to the relationship, he had agreed to a marriage by a proposal with a dowry, to a Sinhalease woman he had never met before. Siri could not believe that arranged marriages still play a role in Sri Lanka.

He left Piyal's place despondent, reflecting on his own marriage, and their opposite paths. The journey highlighted the consequences of his marriage to Rajini. It was a union that brought pain and grief to his mother, and other relatives, in a country where such unions were still taboo.

Soon after the plane landed in Singapore, Siri rang Rajini. Only the answering machine replied. He tried to reach his wife again, from five until seven in the evening. Finally, he left a message saying that he would be arriving in the early morning hours and would take a taxi home.

When the plane landed in Perth, Siri was eager to get home as quickly as possible, but by the time he cleared customs, it was almost one thirty in the morning. He was eager to share his news of the situation at home and of his friend Piyal with Rajini.

Rajini opened the door to the apartment, but could not stay awake. Siri sat by himself in the lounge and reflected on the journey just completed and his life as a married person.

The strong odour of tobacco permeated the room. He was not sure where it came from and opened the windows to c lear the air. The stench clung to the room like a thief in hiding.

Siri's eyes glanced over the coffee table and noticed a newsletter with Tamil Ealam slogans on the front cover. There was also an invoice for a hundred dollars from the Tamil Liberation Fund, in the UK. The newsletter was addressed to Rajini's maiden name printed above their Perth address.

His blood murmured in his veins as he scanned the Tamil propaganda rich with anti-Sinhalese slogans. An hour later he dressed for bed and lay down far away from Rajini. The cigarette smell became stronger, but jet lag, and the trauma he had experienced, had taken its toll. He slept immediately.

When Siri awoke, it was almost nine. Rajini was still sleeping. He got up, made some coffee, and sat on the sofa. Their wedding photograph stared back at him. "Eight months," he thought. Beside the photograph was a bunch of dead flowers in a vase. A few buds lay on the floor. He got up to remove the dead flowers from the floor and spied cigarette butts behind the cupboard. He could not believe his eyes. Rajini never smoked.

Running to the bedroom, he saw Rajini up and reading in bed. "Who was the bastard that smoked in my house?"

"Oh, the smoker was not a bastard!"

"Who was the smoker, then?"

"A woman, a Sheila!" smiled Rajini, and she attempted to embrace him. Siri jumped back as if she carried an infectious disease.

"It was my trainer Nola, from the Body Club, and her boyfriend. She's a cool person! She came to visit me when I was on my own. Yesterday she came over with her fiance and asked for some privacy. He worked in the Goldfields. I left them here and went to the city, for a change."

Siri was startled by her explanation, which he did not accept. He changed tack. "Do you think that this is a bloody brothel? This is my house! You have no reason to entertain people and allow them to use this house!" he shouted.

"I'm not sure what they did here," Rajini responded calmly. "I know Nola smokes, and she begged for some privacy. How could I refuse? Poor woman!"

"What's this bloody Ealam propaganda stuff in my house? An invoice for a Tamil Tiger Fund in the UK? Don't you know what they do with your bloody money?" he shouted. "Uncle Siva mailed them to me. He sent them to everybody in town!"

"But he can't send them to you, and to my address, with your maiden name on it!"

"I don't think they know how to spell your Sinhala name 'Wickramasinghe!' I haven't even changed my name anyway!"

"But you're my wife! You are Mrs Wickramasinghe," Siri yelled hysterically.

"Look, Mate! This is Australia, and people can do whatever they like in this country! Women can change their maiden names after marriage or not change them at all! I can contribute to or believe in any political ideology that I have faith in!" And with that, she left the bedroom and escaped to the lounge to avoid any further argument. Siri followed her.

"What ideology? The Tamil Tigers are terrorists and are not supported by any international government after they had killed Rajiv Gandhi!"

"That must be in India! Well, how come the UK, France and even the USA have LTTE Branches? We've got one in each state in Australia and people contribute money voluntarily. Nobody forces you to donate money. I told you, this was sent by Uncle Siva and I haven't given any money yet, but now I may!"

"Do you know what happens to all the money collected by bloody Tamil Tigers?"

"Yes, money goes to the Tamil Liberation Fund."

"What Liberation Fund? The money is spent on killing innocent people and children! Money will be spent on buying guns. That's the final result."

"Well Mate, it's my choice and not yours, okay? What I do is none of your business! Do you know what your bloody Sri Lankan Army does in Jaffna?"

"How do I know?"

"They are bloody Sinhalese rogues and damn people! They kill innocent people!"

"How do you know?"

"I know that very well!"

"You bloody Tamil b...c! He shouted and lunged towards her. Rajini ran into the bedroom and locked the door. Siri went to the balcony to breathe some fresh air. The Swan River flowed slowly, in the usual manner, but there was a heavy fog covering the city. A crescent moon was vaguely visible in the far distant sky.

Rajini did not open the door until Siri left the next morning. After failing in his efforts to settle things with his wife, Siri finally left for work, late.

When he came back, Rajini's car was missing from her parking bay and the house was in darkness. There was no sign of his wife, but there was a note on the table.

Siri,

I'm moving out! I don't think we can live together any longer. You are a Sinhalese extremist and cannot understand other people's views on life, or any other matter. I'm a Tamil bitch and a supporter of the Tamil Liberation Movement. That's it!

Good bye.

R.

PS:

By the way, I replaced your Lion's flag with one of ours. I'm sorry the Ealam flag is not as big as yours to fill up the wall in your study!

Siri rushed to his study and found his Sri Lankan flag missing. A small Ealam flag with a Tiger face was on his computer. The Tiger's face looked at him mockingly, having swallowed its prey. He tore the flag.

Siri walked back into the living room and poured himself a drink. He was tired and paralysed by uncertainty. He lay down on the sofa and buried his head in the cushions. The strong cigarette smell rose up again. It overpowered the perfume Rajini had left behind. Outside, the night erased twilight from the sky.

A few days later, Siri received a letter from a lawyer regarding a divorce and settlement issues.

(Disclaimer: All the people's names and places appearing in this chapter are fictional and they do not represent anyone living or dead.)

Footnotes

[1] The influence of Saturn which is considered to bring bad luck.

[2] The poems compiled and sung to eliminate negative astrological influence as practised in some parts of Sri Lanka.

[3] "No, my dear son! It's not a lie. Upon my words to the Buddha!"